A personal computer that integrates internet functionality may be used to greatly increase the ability of a user to communicate across several modalities. A user may contact a communication partner using electronic mail, or e-mail, in which a discrete set of text may be sent from the user to the communication partner at a time convenient to an e-mail server. The user may associate a file or application with the text, sending the file or application as an attachment to the e-mail. A user may enact a real-time conversation with a communication partner using instant messaging, in which sets of text may be exchanged between the user and the communication partner instantaneously.
The personal computer that integrates internet functionality may integrate services normally associated with other devices. A personal computer with audio input and output capability may be modified by software to act as a telephone for the user. The user may exchange real-time audio data with a communication partner, allowing a conversation to take place. Further, a personal computer with digital image capturing capability may act as a video telephone. A user and a communication partner may exchange synchronized video and audio data, allowing a greater flexibility in the types of communications that may take place.
Many existing communication technologies may integrate these computing innovations. One example would be the internet protocol (IP) telephone. An IP telephone may use voice over IP (VOIP) to transmit telephone calls over the internet, rather than a public switched telephone network.